The Mountain West's new logo -- which the conference has nicknamed "The Rock."

The Mountain West Conference unveiled a, um, different logo — and even gave that logo a nickname.

In a press release, the conference claims the logo signals in the ushering in of “a new era in the 13-year history of the Mountain West.” The MWC also saved fans the trouble of trying to come up with a nickname for the logo. The conference has dubbed it “The Rock.”

“This initiative is emblematic of the evolution of our league,” MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said in the release. “The overwhelming majority of the people we spoke to said the Mountain West is bold, feisty and highly competitive, and we strongly believe these qualities are reflected in our new brand identity and our new logo.”

The new logo will be worn by all of the conference’s teams and be displayed on playing surfaces across the league.

The MWC’s website said: “Since its inception in 1999, the Mountain West has been at the forefront of progress and innovation.”

You know, like Thomas Edison and IBM.

“Today, we’re taking it one step further.”

The new logo coincided with the unveiling of the league’s new tagline: “This is our time.” A new website is planned for a July release.

The Mountain West this summer will lose BYU (to independence in football, and to the West Coast Conference in all other sports) and Utah (to the Pac-12). TCU leaves for the Big East in 2012.

Taking those spots in the MWC are Boise State (2011), Nevada (2012), Fresno State (2012) and Hawaii (2012).

It’s that time of year when for four weeks I obsessively check rivals.com and scout.com every half hour for any trends, commitments, de-commitments and assorted other time-killers. Then I get my life back and return to clicking status updates from fifth-grade classmates on Facebook.

There are some interesting numbers on the rivals.com Mountain West football recruiting site. Not surprisingly departing TCU, Utah and BYU lead the league. Utah and BYU are gone next year and by the time Gary Patterson redshirts this class, the Horned Frogs will be in the Big East and not beating up on Front Range teams.

The timing of TCU's departure from the MWC could have been worse for Colorado State. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

The timing of TCU’s departure could have been worse — much worse for some area teams.

There’s every indication BCS bowl-bound TCU is bolting for the Big East in 2012. Today’s (Monday) noon MST press conference is scheduled for live-streaming on gofrogs.com. The Mtn. is trying to get it on air but hasn’t found any local Fort Worth television outlets who will carry the event.